Loophole
by Erhothwen
Summary: A very distressed Celeborn must face his torment, namely Glorfindel and Erestor. Can it be true? Is Lord Celeborn finally at loss? Which of the three will succeed: Glorfindel, Erestor, or Celeborn? Cameos by Elrond & his sons, Celebrian, & Galadriel. DONE


Loophole  
  
Disclaimer: I own nothing except the plot. They all belong to the almighty Tolkien.  
  
Rating: G  
  
Genre: General  
  
Summary: A very distressed Celeborn must face his torment, namely Glorfindel and Erestor. Can it be true? Is Lord Celeborn finally at loss? Which of the three will succeed: Glorfindel, Erestor, or Celeborn? Cameos by Elrond, Celebrian, Galadriel, Elladan, & Elrohir.  
  
Author's Note: Alright.I cheated by putting three Elves of the Month into one story. This piece is for the C-O-D-E Group 'Dissed Elf' Challenge. Story beta'ed by the wonderful Marnie!  
  
This is a SLASH-FREE environment by the way.  
  
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Celeborn's eyebrows were furrowed in deep concentration, his forehead creased as he closed his eyes briefly in deep thought. 'What am I going to do?' he thought wildly as [he] leaned forward and set his elbows atop the wooden table. 'Surely there must be a way.'  
  
Glorfindel played with a loose string that had broken free from the hem line on his green sleeve as he watched Celeborn's frustrated attempts to conjure up a solution to his ominous predicament. The Lord of Lorien wore regal robes of pure white and silver with hues of pale blue and he would have appeared quite majestic indeed if he hadn't been chewing on his bottom lip in nervous deposition. Glorfindel almost grinned privately. This was going all too well in his favor. Leaning on the back two legs of his chairs, he turned to see if Erestor was thinking along the same lines as he was, but the advisor's ebony hair hung in his eyes and Glorfindel could not fathom a guess.  
  
"We are waiting," said Glorfindel in an oily voice, his lips daring to twitch up in a smirk.  
  
"Stop badgering Lord Celeborn and be patient!" chastised Erestor from beside him, though he himself couldn't help but glance down with a secret smile.  
  
"Do not patronize me, Erestor," warned Glorfindel. "You may think yourself triumphant, but I shall be victor this time."  
  
"Right, like the thirty-seven other times. Ah, it was such pleasure having you carry around my scrolls and paperwork for months. How I love having you slave away to my every whim when it is usually I who is taken advantage of."  
  
"Yes, but I have a hunch that it will be different this time."  
  
"You said that the last time, I believe."  
  
"But-  
  
"CEASE!"  
  
The bickering between Glorfindel and Erestor came to an abrupt halt and they turned to look innocently at Celeborn.  
  
"How can I pay attention to the serious stakes at hand if you two are squabbling?" Celeborn said in an irritated voice. 'Ai, Elbereth! There is no way out,' thought Celeborn worriedly. 'I cannot comprehend how those sneaky advisors trapped me.' A turmoil of nerves afflicted Celeborn's mind as a single bead of perspiration slowly rolled its way down his fair- skinned forehead.  
  
Across from him, Glorfindel stared at him with intense haughtiness in his emerald eyes while drumming his fingers softly on the table.his other hand held an enigma which could ruin Lord Celeborn's reputation.  
  
Celeborn thought feverishly of his status, his dignity, his pride.all lost if he didn't do something quick. Silver-blonde hair plastered to his head as he began to perspire more and more. It would not end like this. He would not let them take him down without a fight.  
  
It did not help that Erestor seemed to be silently urging Celeborn on, giving him pleading looks of urgency that contradicted his earlier notion of chastisement toward Glorfindel for not letting Celeborn take his time. It was amazing how Erestor could control himself when containing so much energy and emotion within.  
  
Erestor prided himself on the same thing Celeborn did and only one could come out on top. Glorfindel, however, looked rather smug.perhaps there was a first to everything and Glorfindel would show them both up.  
  
But as the minutes ticked by, Celeborn knew he was at a loss. He sighed resignedly and slightly tilted his head up, giving Glorfindel and Erestor the look they were hoping for. The look of surrender.  
  
Glorfindel, could hardly contain himself. Glory bubbled from inside of him and his eyes were bright with anticipation. True, Erestor was one up on him, but fortunately, he would go before Erestor.  
  
"What I am about to do will mark a new beginning, a beginning in which I shall vanquish the two of you to the hall of defeat," began Glorfindel dramatically.  
  
"And how do you, Glorfindel," cut in Erestor smoothly, emphasizing his companion's name, "know the outcome of all of this. Surely you realize I am at an advantage."  
  
But Erestor was not and only Glorfindel knew it. He gave Erestor a small, knowing smile. Earlier he had accidentally gotten a glimpse of Erestor's secret weapon, and that knowledge gave Glorfindel such an advantage that he stood sure of demolishing all that stood in his way.  
  
Yes, Glorfindel felt guilty inwardly, but an accident was an accident and Erestor should have been more careful in guarding his prize possession.  
  
Glorfindel smirked at both Celeborn and Erestor before holding his hand high in the air as if he were to strike the Lord of Lothlorien, though still concealing the weapon that would leave Erestor spellbound. Finally, here was his chance-  
  
"Are you still going at it?"  
  
Three heads, so intent on the climax, whirled around to meet Lord Elrond with his youthful twin sons, Elladan and Elrohir, in tow. Celebrian and Galadriel stood on either side of him, their eyes filled with mirth-not knowing the seriousness of the situation.  
  
"Ada, what are they doing?" inquired young Elrohir, darting inquisitive looks at his father.  
  
"Daerada looks like he's sick, Glory looks like he's going to rip someone's head off and 'Restor looks like he has to wee really badly!" commented Elladan loudly and looked up at his father with wide eyes. Celebrian laughed at this, but no one noticed the Galadriel seemed to have her eyes drawn to the table where Celeborn, Glorfindel, and Erestor sat.  
  
"I walk in this room and all I feel is tension. Perhaps it would be wise, Celebrian, were you to take the twins away before there is.bloodshed," said Elrond gravely.  
  
"Come little ones," said Celebrian in a hushed tone, now realizing what was to come. "I would not want the two of you to be in danger now, would I?"  
  
A look passed between Elladan and Elrohir. "Danger?" whimpered Elladan. The sons of Elrond quickly complied and followed their mother out of the war zone.  
  
Meanwhile, Celeborn had been trying ever so hard not to fidget in his sea. He was relieved at his son-in-law's arrival. 'Perfect timing,' he thought. 'Now my disheartening end will be delayed.'  
  
It was then that Lord Celeborn felt something like a soft zephyr gently push at his mind, almost probing.  
  
'Galadriel, is that you?'  
  
'Loophole,' came Lady Galadriel's voice, soft and melodic in Celeborn's mind.  
  
Almost as quick as it had come, the sweet and lovely chill of Galadriel's presense left Celeborn's head.  
  
'Loophole?' thought Celeborn wildly. 'What in the world does she mean?' He stared hard at the first possibility lying on the table and then at next four, his eyes lingering on each option. Out of the blue, Lord Celeborn felt as if he were struck with the lightening bolt of ecstatic remembrance. Eru, did he love his spouse.  
  
A loud sigh emitting from both Erestor and Glorfindel brought Lord Celeborn back down to reality.  
  
"Peredhil, can you not see that something amazingly great was to happen at that instant?" growled Glorfindel in annoyance.  
  
"My apologies," answered Elrond apologetically. "Carry on."  
  
Glorfindel's smile widened like a schoolboy who had just found out lessons had been canceled. Finally, his moment to shine in what he was usually overshadowed by Erestor in.  
  
What came next was like a slow motion in Elrond's eyes, though a blur in the sight of Glorfindel's and Erestor's.  
  
Celeborn's hand launched forward in liquid motion and slammed the winning playing card on the middle stack of cards with such force that the table itself creaked. "I." started Celeborn, his voice low and breathless, ".win.the.game."  
  
Silence followed and Celeborn looked gleefully at the shocked expressions etched in his opponent's faces. He would savor it forever. Even Elrond was startled for he was sure Celeborn would lose. Galadriel was trying very hard not to look too pleased.  
  
For each year Celeborn-supposedly the best card player in Lothlorien, came with his wife to pay Rivendell a visit. There, he challenged the two finest card players to the game in which he and Erestor both excelled. This time, though he would have rather preferred poker, Glorfindel joined in wanting to see whose reputation would fall flat: Celeborn's or Erestor's. The game dragged on and Glorfindel was surprised to see that he was playing his best game yet and that he could quite possibly win. It was anybody's game and a close one at it.  
  
"You must be mistaken," spoke Glorfindel, his rigid voice cutting the silence like a knife. "That move is not possible. It's against the rules."  
  
Erestor snorted in a rather undignified manner at this. Outside competition and bets, Glorfindel had a way of bending the rules just a tad.  
  
"Loophole," responded Celeborn with calm self-satisfaction.  
  
"LOOPHOLE?" burst Glorfindel and Erestor standing up at once. Erestor snatched the winning playing card and looked down at the stack of cards it had been placed upon. The chief advisor had never lost a single time in this particular game and knew the rules inside and out-there was no chance that he could have overlooked a minor detail and.Erestor gulped. He couldn't bring himself to think that he had actually been bested at the very card game he had a reputation for.  
  
"He's right, Glorfindel," said Erestor stiffly at last.  
  
Celeborn had won, there had been a loophole in the rules.  
  
Lines of "Good game" and forced handshakes were exchanged and Celeborn could not help but smile smartly.  
  
Surprisingly, there was no need to bring anyone in to clean up the remains of Lord Celeborn for it was all in good-nature. Or so to speak.  
  
As the group filed out of the room to retire for the night, Celeborn lagged behind and winked at his wife. Galadriel gave him a look of mock puzzlement and not a word was exchanged between the two of them for that moment.  
  
"You know, I have yet to see Thranduil's card playing skills. I hear he is rather good at poker, perhaps I should visit Mirkwood and see if he fancies a round of poker." started Celeborn quietly to Galadriel.  
  
"If that is what you truly wish," she stated simply, but did not go on further. She smiled as she saw a look of revengeful delight pass between the beaming faces of Glorfindel and Erestor, for they had overheard Celeborn's words.  
  
It was rumored Thranduil had been playing poker right out of the crib with the renowned Oropher as his poker mentor.  
  
'Let's see Celeborn try to best Thranduil at poker.' all save Celeborn thought unanimously.  
  
-  
  
This piece was fun to write, though I'm not quite satisfied about it. The story was more somewhat more Celeborn-centric, so expect a story focused on Glorfindel and Erestor later. And Thranduil too-he's C-O-D-E Group's 'Dissed Elf' at the moment. Feedback and constructive criticism make me happy! 


End file.
